Karen Knight, SPSM

Experience

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  Milliken & Company

  Jan 2006 - Jan 2012

   Purchased MRO, PVF, Power Transmission, Electrical, Machine Shop Services, Motors and Motor repair, Safety supplies and programs for all North American locations, responsible for $23MM total spend.  Managed quality and performance of production equipment, specifically knit and non-woven. Examined and eliminated root causes of off-quality. Increased machine and operator efficiency through continuous improvement strategies.

  • Senior Buyer

    Jan 2008 - Jan 2012

  • Product and Process Improvement

    Jan 2006 - Nov 2008
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  WABTEC Passenger Transit

  Feb 2013 - Feb 2015

  Purchasing Agent

   Procure Commodity and Custom Electronics for production of braking and coupling systems for passenger railcars. Achieve 6% annual savings by negotiation for competitive pricing and terms with contract manufacturers and utilizing sourcing tools for daily orders. Manage suppliers to ensure production and aftermarket sales meet customer expectations for quality and delivery. Support engineering and design teams through prototype procurement and facilitate migration of designs from prototype status to production volume purchasing, ensuring each electrical component of the BOM has an optimal plan for procurement. Show less

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  Woven Electronics

  Feb 2015 - Feb 2018

  Purchasing Supervisor

  Manage a team of buyers procuring components for wiring harnesses for military and commercial aerospace, with $20MM annual spend.Improved supplier On Time Delivery performance from 86% to 97% within the first six months by creating a PO Late and Due report and charting the improvements.Designed and implemented an improved MRP tool utilizing Excel™ spreadsheets, allowing us to quickly send out bid lists and to flow prime contract and DPAS ratings to our suppliers, which saved the buyers an average of 12 hours each per week. As a result, we were able to avoid replacing a retiree and reduced the number of buyers from four to three.Achieved $500M savings in 2015 through negotiating LTA’s on three large contracts. Show less

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  Wabtec Passenger Transit

  Feb 2018 - now

  Procurement Manager

  Lead three teams providing strategic and tactical management of component flow to manufacture braking and coupling systems for passenger railcars. o Materials Planning – utilize Oracle attributes to maximize material flow and minimize inventory carrying costs.o New Part Introduction – guide path from part creation, PPAP requirements, to production purchase readiness. o Tactical Buying – manage purchasing, supplier performance, MRP signal response.